EscapeWithMe Read Online Free PDF Page A

jig
would see him dead by the end of the year. His father was on the cusp of
poverty, what with the ruination of his business, and as sick as he was, being
turned out of his own home would surely kill him. Ryder had already laid down
most of the money he had made in the war settling the most extreme of Phillip’s
debts. The other half was not enough to settle the rest and not nearly enough
to keep the business solvent.
    “I’ll find him, Father. I promise.” Ryder stood.
    “I don’t want your promises. Leave me. I tire of your
presence.”
    As Ryder gratefully left the room, he wished for the
thousandth time to know what he could do to have a kind word from his father.
Tightness in his chest made it difficult to speak but thankfully, Mrs. Johnson
entered the room without a word from him. As he descended the stairs, he
hurriedly pulled off his gloves to have them cleaned and was determined anew to
locate and thoroughly thrash his older brother.
    * * * * *
    Sam wasn’t particularly shy in front of her own sex, but
being naked in front of four fully clothed women was uncomfortable. The candles
spread about the windowless room made the atmosphere even worse, as though they
were preparing her as a human sacrifice.
    While a younger servant girl filled a tub with hot water,
Mrs. Hayes stripped her clothes from her, tossing the trench coat and blouse
into the arms of a young brunette named Ann, another of Mrs. Hayes’ mademoiselles .
Mrs. Hayes marveled over Sam’s bra. She squashed and stroked the cups and
pinched the underwire like a doctor palpating a patient. Sam stood by the tub
with her arms crossed over her chest, red-cheeked and wishing she were
somewhere else.
    “Those are like no breeches I’ve ever seen. Let us have a
look at those, Miss Reed.” Mrs. Hayes fluttered her hand at Sam’s legs. After
kicking off her brown flats, Sam kept one arm across her breasts and wriggled
out of her slacks with the other. Mrs. Hayes practically snatched the pants
from her to study their material.
    “What’s this?” She squinted at the wash instructions.
“Machine wash cold with like colors only?” One look at Sam’s panties and her
voice went shrill. “And why are you wearing those tiny trousers?”
    Sam squirmed with embarrassment. “Please, Mrs. Hayes. It’s
cold.” She wasn’t actually all that cold, but she wanted to avoid explanation
and any further inspection.
    “Well, this is all very strange, dear. What are American men wearing these days?” Mrs. Hayes passed the remaining articles to
Ann. She then looked back at Sam with suspicion. “You did in fact obtain these
in America, Miss Reed?”
    Sam nodded and hoped Mrs. Hayes never found out what
American men really wore. Mrs. Hayes plunged her hand into the pocket of her
skirt and pulled out a roll of measuring tape.
    Sam’s eyes went wide. “What’s that for?”
    “We’ve only a few hours to have one of Ann’s dresses
adjusted. I need to send along some measurements with Mr. Hull.” Mrs. Hayes
pulled her arms away from her chest to measure her bust size. Sam’s cheeks were
burning.
    “Lovely diddeys. Those colonial men chased you aplenty, I
wager,” Mrs. Hayes said with a giggle.
    “M-Mrs. Hayes!”
    “The arms next and please call me Abby, dear. We’re very
well acquainted now, are we not?” She measured the length and thickness of
Sam’s arms. Sam asked the ceiling why she was letting this woman fondle her.
“You’ve much longer arms than Ann. We’ll need new engageantes to dress
the elbows.”
    New what? The woman’s pronunciation of French was so poor
that even if Sam knew more than a smattering of French, she was certain she
would still be puzzled by the word.
    “Que magnifique,” Mrs. Hayes said with a gasp, her
eyes on Sam’s locket. “Such a unique necklace.” She reached to touch it and Sam
had to force herself not to step away. The woman gently lifted the locket and
leaned in close to study it. “What do you keep inside